President Obama takes to JAMA to explain how the healthcare system has improved thanks to the ACA. Highlights include a 43-percent drop in the uninsured rate; a shift in traditional Medicare payments, 30 percent of which now flow through alternative payment models like ACOs; and one last try at getting Congress to consider rolling out a Medicare-like public health plan. He gives the most tangential of nods to healthcare technology, noting that, “Tools created by the ACA—including CMMI and the law’s ACO program—and the new tools provided by MACRA will play central roles in [having at least half of traditional Medicare payments flowing through alternative payment models by the end of 2018]. In parallel, I expect continued bipartisan support for identifying the root causes and cures for diseases through the Precision Medicine and BRAIN initiatives and the Cancer Moonshot, which are likely to have profound benefits for the 21st-century US healthcare system and health outcomes.”

Webinars

July 13 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Why Risk It? Readmissions Before They Happen.” Sponsored by Medicity. Presenter: Adam Bell, RN, senior clinical consultant, Medicity. Readmissions generate a staggering $41.3 billion in additional hospital costs each year, and many occur for reasons that could have been avoided. Without a clear way to proactively identify admitted patients with the highest risk of readmission, hospitals face major revenue losses and CMS penalties. Join this webinar to discover how to unlock the potential of patient data with intelligence to predict which admitted patients are at high risk for readmission.

Teladoc secures $50 million in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank, which it will use for “general corporate purposes” that no doubt include paying legal fees related to its ongoing showdown with the Texas Medical Board. The agreement with SVB comes just two weeks after Teladoc announced the acquisition of Scottsdale, AZ-based patient engagement technology company HealthiestYou.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Texas-based Aprima Medical Software will relocate its 250 employees to a 55,000-square-feet headquarters in Richardson next month.

The Ambulatory Surgery Center at St. Mary (PA) notifies 13,000 patients of a ransomware attack and data breach discovered June 1 when staff noticed encrypted files on an internal network. Fortunately, the center had full backups and was able to restore files the same day. No ransom was paid.